★★★★ – “Fun, touching and energetic.”

Inspired by true events, the film follows Eddie Edwards as he pursues his dream of becoming an Olympic Athlete in the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics with the help of charismatic coach, Bronson Peary. This is a story of true passion and courage, and the incredible power of human spirit.

Eddie The Eagle soars high with a beautiful tale about a small-town underdog who had a dream. It hits all the points in terms of its advertised promise; a feel-good, fun, energetic, and comedic story that will have you on the edge of your seat, especially when the ski-jump scenes are so brilliantly constructed and punctuated. Not only that, but having Taron as Eddie was one of the best decisions the casting director made. He settles into the character and personality of Eddie so well that it’s absolutely realistic and believable. Hugh Jackman as the (almost) completely fictional Bronson Peary coincided naturally with Taron’s performance and they both complemented each other extremely well on-screen. The parents, played by Joe and Keith, were decent enough to be pushed to the background and not taken too seriously without distraction to the two main cast members in the foreground. A lot of the acting around Taron and Hugh felt cheesy and cheap, apart from Christopher Walken, who does appear briefly in the film. But maybe this is what the director and writers were heading towards when working on the screenplay. Baring in mind this is set in the 80s, it’s something I can forget about when studying the film and experiencing it again in the future.

Speaking of the 80s, the original score had to be spot-on in composition and structure, and I believe that Matthew Margeson did a terrific job bringing the classic sounds back. Old synths and drum pads softly reconcile the picture and music with skill. What’s great about it is you can listen to the score without the picture and still find that same enjoyment. There’s not a huge amount of music featured in the film so it doesn’t ever pull you out of the experience, so much as it draws you in. Again, the ski-jump scenes are paired tastefully with Matthew’s score which are huge highlights.

When you really look at the care taken during not only the shooting, but the editing of this feature, you can see how much fun the filmmakers had with this project. It’s very nice to sit back for a while and experience something other than superhero battles and YA adaptions, which I don’t dislike, I actually get some enjoyment out of them. It’s just nice to see something different and not so tiresome.

My verdict; Eddie the Eagle is a wonderful, feel-good, comedic look at the passionate dreamer who made said dreams a reality. This is a must-watch.